This year, 6,416 Master’s students and students of pilot higher education projects took part in the scholarship contest. They represented 75 Russian universities.

There are two rounds in the contest. In the first one, students submit descriptions of their personal life plans, motivation, and topics of their future Master’s theses. After the initial evaluation based on formal criteria, including a plagiarism check, a total of 3,478 applications were then selected for further examination by experts. Among these, 312 applications were submitted by ITMO students, making the university a leader in this respect.

2,000 students passed through to the second round of the contest. Out of them, only 750 participants won scholarships, having successfully solved suggested cases and demonstrated their skills in business games that made up this round. The winners will be receiving a monthly stipend of 25,000 rubles from February 2024 and until their graduation.

The greatest number of winners is among students of the Higher School of Economics (94) and Lomonosov Moscow State University (88), with ITMO students coming third (68). In total, the winners represent 101 fields, with the most popular fields at ITMO being innovation studies (25 winners), biotechnology, and technical physics (6 winners from each field). The full list of winners is available here (in Russian).

Photo by Daria Skvortsova / ITMO Mediaportal

Photo by Daria Skvortsova / ITMO Mediaportal

Applications for the next round of the scholarship contest open in October 2024 for first- and second-year Master’s students studying full-time. All contest details and application requirements are listed on the official website, with updates posted on the Telegram channel (both in Russian). Go here to learn why you should apply and what strategies helped winners of the previous season.